Actually, he loves vodka, Ghostbusters, and his 40-foot, six-cylinder, 13-speed RV. Aykroyd’s been out pounding the proverbial pavement in said RV (he hates to fly) across the great territories of Canada and the United States, promoting his latest endeavor: Crystal Head Vodka, the bottle of which can become something of a ghostly relic. According to the actor, people have used its skull-shaped vessel as an urn for loved ones' ashes or as a vase for flower arrangements after the booze is gone. (Functional alcoholism!)Last week, Aykroyd found himself playing mixologist at Boulevard, the tony restaurant in the Beverly Wilshire Hotel. Between mixing cocktails and riffing with a jazz trio for a hodgepodge of hotel guests, vodka enthusiasts, and the occasional Blues Brothers fan, Aykroyd (with wife and actress Donna Dixon by his side), chatted with VF about Bill Murray, Ghostbusters 3, and Yogi Bear’s toxic-bachelor ways. Excerpts:

Susan Michals: I’m used to seeing you as a Blues Brother or a Ghostbuster. When it comes to comedic characters and their alcohol, I tend think of the Ladies’ Man (Tim Meadows) and his ever-present bottle of Courvoisier.

Dan Aykroyd: Well, Crystal Head is different. I’m behind it, but I’m playing myself. It’s the most virgin vodka there is, totally pure.

That’s cool and all, but people want to know if your vodka will give them a hangover.

It’s the glycol that gives you the hangover. I’m a big guy; I can do six shots and not feel any effect at all. Look—all great vodkas start with water and we wanted to go back to the old style of vodka-making—which is just water and the mash with no additives. So we went to Newfoundland, which is 1,000 miles away from the Erie Plume, which causes acid rain in New York state. So up there, we’re dealing with water from the original glacial ponds. A lot of Eastern Bloc vodkas—and I’m not going to name names, I never do—but they have very unhygienic facilities. Black mold. Rust in the pipes.

That sounds delicious.

Our place is a pristine facility. No additives, just good clean vodka.

What’s the difference between promoting a film and promoting vodka?

You know, I’ve sold a lot of bad movies in my time. I would come out and tell a writer like you on Wednesday that we had a hit on our hands coming out on Friday knowing it was going to be a failure. Here, I’m riding a winner.

Let's talk Justin Timberlake.

He’s in the Facebook movie. This guy is one of the great talents of our time.

You guys are in Yogi Bear together, out in December. To me, Yogi Bear looks like a 40-year-old bachelor from Vermont who prefers Jaegermiester over vodka, no matter how pure it is.

Yogi would never consume alcoholic beverages, other than some honey and mead. It’s a beautiful little relationship between me and Justin Timberlake [who plays Boo Boo].

He was talking about the writers from Year One, and I think he was reacting to the box-office success and the general public view of the film, which in my view was a very serviceable comedy, and in the end I think they’ll make their money back. I think he was concerned that the writing on Ghostbusters 3 by these guys would not be up to standard, but I can tell you firsthand, I’m working on the script now and those two—Stupnitsky and Eisenberg, [writer-producers of The Office]—wrote Bill the comic role of a lifetime, and the new Ghostbusters and the old are all well represented in it we have a strong first draft that Harold [Ramis] and I will take back, and I’m very excited about working on it.

Bill and Ted 3. Heathers 2. True Lies 2. Really?

Look, Hollywood is in love with any kind of nostalgia that can prove itself to be commercial. But it has to evolve. Now [in Ghostbusters 3] my character’s eyesight is shot, I got a bad knee, a bad hip—I can’t drive that caddy anymore or lift that Psychotron Accelerator anymore, it’s too heavy. We need young legs, new minds—new Ghostbusters; so I’m in essence passing the torch to the new regime, and you know what? That’s totally okay with me.